PHB2 Class Review: Warden is the Ultimate Shapeshifter Tank
Here we see the level 17 encounter power, "Pimpslap."
There’s something pretty awesome about wading nonchalantly into a thicket of hobgoblins, taking the best they can dish out, turning into a tree and whomping the crap out of them…grinning the whole time. That’s what the warden is made for.
If you’ve played any MMORPGs, you’re probably familiar with the “tank” archetype – a character whose purpose is to hold aggro and absorb massive amounts of damage. The warden is perfectly designed to fill this role, which 4E refers to as defender. Wardens draw on the new primal power source, and the overwhelming majority of their powers are based on Strength.
Wardens have two key inherent abilities that define their role in the party. The first, Nature’s Wrath, marks all adjacent creatures. That’ll hold aggro. The second, Font of Life, lets the warden make an extra saving throw against an ongoing effect every turn, at the beginning of his turn. So as the warden is getting hammered on and acquiring ongoing poison, fire, dazed, immobilized and so forth, he can save before his turn and then take an action without suffering the effects. If that save misses, he still gets one at the end of his turn.
There are some decent damage powers with interesting, though not awesome secondary control effects (mostly designed to keep bad guys’ attacks directed at the warden), but the warden’s bread and butter is her shapeshifting ability. It seems like the bulk of the warden’s powers are dailies that grant the warden the aspect of some natural creature. The effect grants a stat bonus, such as +2 speed or +1 reflex, and lasts throughout the encounter.
What’s really interesting is how this form of shifting differs from the druid’s. A druid can use two daily powers in one encounter to gain both wolf and bear form, for instance. While the druid can freely shift between those forms, she has to choose one or the other. A warden merely takes on certain aspects of the form. Using additional daily shifting powers allows you to layer them in a wide variety of combos.
Let me give you an example: the level one daily power Form of the Fearsome Ram gives you horns and hooves, plus a killer charge attack. Use Form of the Stonecrusher in the same encounter, and you become a stone ram. At later levels, you gain access to more fantastic forms, like Form of the Chimera and Form of the Starmetal Warrior. If you layer too many, the results can seem a little nonsensical (a winged tree with panther fur?), but the stats and extra abilities stack all the same.
[A reader correctly observes that the Polymorph keyword states they do not, in fact, stack. To which I say, "Bah! They stack at my gaming table!"]
The shapeshifting really sets the warden apart from a plain tank (which can be pretty boring to play). The player has a lot of options, and can create all kinds of custom dual or triple forms to use in specific situations.
Related posts:
March 25th, 2009 12:23 PM
“Hold aggro?” I am not familiar with the term?
March 25th, 2009 12:42 PM
Basically, make sure the bad guys are focused on attacking you and not your buddies, who may be less capable of dealing with the damage.
March 25th, 2009 2:37 PM
This could be quite entertaining, I love the combining of forms. That would be worth it entirely.
March 25th, 2009 3:11 PM
Gotcha (& I thought as much…)– but how does marking adjacent foes hold aggro? Wouldn’t that incline your foes NOT to go into melee with you?
March 25th, 2009 3:36 PM
When you mark someone, they take a -2 to any attack rolls against someone other than you. And the warden’s other powers interact with marked foes as well, for example giving you an opportunity attack against them if they attack someone else. I guess I should have explained things better.
March 25th, 2009 7:58 PM
That marking is a good thing for tanks. There really hasn’t been a good way to tank in D&D before because the DM would just outmanuver the party. That’s why going for as much damage as possible is the preferred strategy. not much point in trying to hold aggro because aggro in the mmo sense doesn’t exist in D&D.
March 26th, 2009 12:21 AM
The Warden’s Dailies don’t stack. When you use a second one, the effects of the second one replace the effects of the second one. Take a look at the polymorph keyword in the back.
March 26th, 2009 12:23 AM
Hadn’t made it that far into the book yet. Well, that sucks.
House rule time.
March 26th, 2009 11:17 AM
Gotcha; is it SIMILAR to how the Fighter’s mark works, or Identical? I played a Paladin in a one-shot, & a Warlock a couple of times, but I haven’t had as much of a chance to play 4e as I would like (the perils of being the DM…never playing! & I DM WoD…or storytell, whatever).
March 26th, 2009 8:07 PM
Wadda ya mean tanks are boring? Blaise glowers at you . . .
March 26th, 2009 10:12 PM
Blaise ain’t a PURE tank. Pure tanks don’t run around the room leaping off tables and chopping the heads off of five enemies in one turn. He’s like a ninja tank or something.
March 27th, 2009 9:27 AM
Alright, Ninja Tank!!! I’m putting that on my next character sheet.